Question

Dosage ordered 40 mg of secobarbitol (elixir) The stock bottle contains 22 mg of secobarbitol in 5 ml solution. How many mL should patient received?

Answer 1

If the dose requires that a total of 40 mg be given, then you take the ratio of the stock bottle (mg/mL) and solve for the total amount of mL that are needed by multiplying the amount of mL required (x):


`(22)/(5) *x=40`

Multiply by 5 on both sides to give:


`22x=200`

Then solve for x:


`(200)/(22)=9.091mL`

Another, possibly quicker, way to solve would be to set up a proportion - one side the stock bottle ratio, and the other side the dosage requirements:


`(22)/(5) = (40)/(x)`

Cross multiply and you get:


`22x=200`

And you would solve this the same way as above.

So the patient should receive 9.091 mL of secobarbitol.